


Dream Link

by Sweetfang



Category: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), A Nightmare on Elm Street (Movies 1984-1994), A Nightmare on Elm Street - All Media Types
Genre: Character Study, Headcanon, Kind of fluffy at times, M/M, My First Fanfic, No Plot/Plotless, Not Beta Read, Slice of Life, Sort of? - Freeform, english is not my first language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 01:44:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19802173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweetfang/pseuds/Sweetfang
Summary: Out of sheer boredom, Freddy wanders around the dreamworld and finds an odd entryway that leads to, what seems to be, a new part of the dreamworld. However, it was much more occupied the he anticipated.





	1. Prologue: The Secret Rabbit Hole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out of sheer boredom, Freddy wanders around the dreamworld and finds an odd entryway that leads to, what seems to be, a new part of the dreamworld. However, it was much more occupied the he anticipated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first fanfic. Let's see how this goes!
> 
> I really just wanted them to interact a bit more. As positively any Freddy is able to be I guess...
> 
> If Remake's condition sounds a bit weird, it's because I'm taking some inspiration from the remake's alternate opening. It may be helpful to give that a watch if you like. Original takes place after Freddy VS Jason so that shouldn't be too hard to follow.

Well, he didn't expect this.

Freddy had severely underestimated the dreamworld's size and now he was in a black void of nothing. Back when he had access to the citizens of Springwood he never really felt a need to explore his home, as his attention was primarily on the teens and the fear they could provide him. This wasn't the case now though.

It had been weeks since that failure of a stunt with the hockey-puck, _his_ chance of a triumphant return to terrorize the youth of Springwood once again. But no, that dumb mama's boy just didn't know when to quit. He kept on killing _his_ children when he was supposed to leave, causing a bunch of teens to stir it up the situation even more. It all ended with a spectacular showdown of idiocy as him and Jason were defeated by the teens. His return was pretty much ruined after that, but at least the big lug finally left his turf.

And so, there he was, in front of a misty wall in the outskirts of the dreamworld.

He could't just sit around back in the center of the dreamworld doing nothing, but there wasn't much to do without anyone to chase. There was only so many times he could sharpen his claws, after all. The surrounding pipes didn't produce much noise or heat anymore now he was so low on power. He was quite surprised over how quickly the residents of Springwood managed to cover up the whole situation. If they hadn't doubled down on Hypnocil before, they sure did that now, as no one had messed up their intakes for god knows how long. Weeks were just a guess on his part. He really wanted to forget about it all, but if he was to solve this issue he had to learn from his mistakes. Being forgotten was a problem he had to deal with alone.

Freddy had started to wander aimlessly around the boiler, sometimes letting his claws scrape the pipes to prepare them for the next sharpening session. The itch for bloodshed was almost unbearable at that point, but the lack of victims made it impossible to scratch. Freddy's eyes had darted around and absorbed the surroundings, seeing a lot of thing he'd conjured up over the years scatted about without much care. Some skipping ropes, a customized skateboard, and much more. The further Freddy had gone into the dreamworld the fuzzier the pipes got, and soon enough the pipes seemingly started to fade into the background and the dreamworld became a lot more bare – it was more like a empty room now rather then a nightmarish power plant. Freddy looks at what should've been the hard concrete wall, but now resembled a wall of mist, and notices a darker patch towards the bottom. He kneels down and lets one of his claws cut up through the thin cloudy layer, revealing a little human sized tunnel. The demon could't see anything on the other end of the opening, but he starts to crawl in anyway. This hole wasn't something he had deliberately summoned, or at least he didn't remember doing it, so it had definitely peaked his interest.

As soon he had set his foot on the other side of the tunnel, Freddy instantly felt his powers plummet to almost nothing. He almost panicked but as he stumbled back in he felt a surge of energy warmed up his body, signalling the return of his powers. Freddy's hands patted all over his body as if he was trying to cover up a leak. His head turns towards the other side again – there where few things Freddy's pride would allow him to fear, but he _really_ did not want to lose his powers, especially not in such a uneventful way. Still, his curiosity begged him to explore. Something interesting finally happened and it wanted the satisfaction of figuring it out. Freddy crawls out of the tunnel, and then back in again, back out and back in a couple of times, testing the waters. Every time he got out his powers depleted but when he went back inside they returned. 

"So, it's consistent then," Freddy mumbles, mostly to himself, as he finally fully exited the tunnel and took a few steps into the black void. He might not like the fact his abilities diminishes here, but the promise of them returning when he goes back to his usual area was reassuring. This place looked even more empty thanks to it being almost pitch-black, save for the ground which was stark white, and strangely powdery. Freddy placed his flesh hand on the ground and its texture remained him of fabric for some reason. He frowns at it for a bit, but ultimately starts to look around, or tries to look around – the loss of his dream powers unfortunately rendered him unable to see very far into the darkness. He wasn't too worried about getting lost here since he did leave visible footsteps on the ground. As Freddy stood there pondering on what to do next he started to feel bizarrely claustrophobic, like he was being pressured by invisible walls, which confused him as he was standing in a vast open space. In comparison to his boilers that just felt empty due to the lack of people, here it was more internal. Freddy almost felt like a hollow shell here, and he had no idea why. His pride and confidence usually blocked such thoughts. Soon, a faint beat could be heard.

Freddy wiggles his ears lightly to focus in on the thumping. He thought it sounded like a heartbeat, but the rhythm was irregular which threw him off a bit. The beat was mainly felt inside of his head and as the pressure grew, Freddy's eyes squeezed shut because of the increase in pain. His body recoils back a bit but the pressure suddenly stops without a warning, causing Freddy to turn his head around as wondering where it went, but his eyes shot open when he caught a strong scent that tickled his nostrils.

Morphine?

Freddy hastily raised his claws for attack, but In front of him stood a man that was in no way able to pose a major physical threat. The newcomer was covered from head to toe in bandages and was barely able to stand upright without lightly swaying from side to side, likely because of painkillers. However, Freddy's claws piercing his chest probably didn't help with his balance either.

It was as if time stood still for just a moment. Freddy didn't get the pleasure of a scream, only a weak strangled gurgle came out of the strangers mouth which soon evolved into a coughing fit. The stranger tried to put his shaky hands on Freddy's wrist, but the demon quickly retracted his blades which caused the newcomer to fall over on his back, still coughing. Freddy looked down upon the band-aided man as he tried to process the situation before it all clicked in his head.

This was the first real person Freddy had encountered in a long time time. A possible ticket to the guts and glory that he wanted. Freddy studied the other man as he was trying to cover his slashed chest with his hands. He must almost certainly be asleep at a hospital, Freddy thought. The band-aids, the clothing above them and the strong scent of painkillers where big indicators. Freddy was toying withe the idea of using him as a message, a strategy he used previously and that had worked pretty decently. But given his accommodations Freddy doubted this method would work as effectively this time, as the hospital staff would surely snuff it out before it reached anyone who could spread it.

Freddy hurriedly picks up and throws the stranger over his shoulder and bolts back towards the tunnel by following his previously made footprints. Freddy thought that if he brought the man back to his usual area he might be able to squeeze some fear out of him. His captive was unable to free himself out of Freddy's grip and could only give off irked whines alongside some weak squirms. As Freddy finally reached the tunnel he haphazardly chunks his hostage into the opening before climbing in himself. The anticipation of finally being able to tear through flesh again filled Freddy with such excitement. Sure this man wasn't his most preferred kind of toy to play with, but beggars can't be choosers he supposed. Freddy looked down at his victim he was now holding against his stomach.

"Now we're going to have so much fun with together, you and I," Freddy gloats. His hostage seemingly tries to give him an angry scowl in response but he was too dazed to pull it off correctly. Freddy chuckled at his attempt.

"But mostly I," Freddy finishes before finally starting to laughing as he felt his powers coming back to him again the closer he got to the boiler. The annoyed expression wasn't exactly the reaction Freddy desired, but he could fix that attitude once the man got a taste of who's mercy he was in. Despite his powers coming back, Freddy was oddly unable to really see into his new playmate's head, leaving him in the dark about both memories and other useful information. Freddy dismissed that as him not having gotten all of his abilities back yet and once he reaches the boilers it should be no problem. Finally back in his primary domain, the demon crawls out of the tunnel and triumphantly holds out his prize in front of him with an mischievous expression – finally some fresh meat!

Okay, maybe not _completely_ fresh meat, given his physical condition. But who knew when a new opportunity like this would surface?

"Now this is going to be a bit of a special occasion given both of our circumstances, but if the two of us put some effort in we can make this work." Freddy informs as he lowers his new playmate down to the ground and puts his hands on his own hips, awaiting a response. However as soon Freddy let's go, the band-aided man slumps over on the floor.

"What did I just say about _effort_! Playing dead won't get you anywhere in my world," Freddy barked as he quickly grabs the other again and starts to violently shake him while continuing to shout for him to stop being ridiculous. But soon Freddy had to face the fact that, despite his currently weak abilities, he was still able to sense life within the dreamworld. And currently he sensed none.

The anger that had previously been kept at bay, mixed with the heightened excitement, had now boiled over when he fully acknowledged that he messed up his one way back to relevance. Freddy furiously starts attacking the corpse without much thought – his own built up emotions blinding him and commanded him to vent out all of his stored up energy. After some time of erratic hits and gashes, Freddy falls over on his back in a frenzied fatigue. He breaths heavily as he laid on the cold floor, having finally gotten some relief for his itch to kill, but the sudden death of his victim still bothered him to no end. How the hell he die? When did that even happen? He seemed responsive enough back in the tunnel...

Freddy sits up and looks at what used to resemble a person. During Freddy's outburst he had suffered devastating wounds, everything from scratch marks to twisted limbs. But there was something Freddy noticed was missing. The stab wound he inflicted earlier on the chest was bewilderingly gone. The demon gently picks up the mangled body and observes the chest area, letting his flesh head rub against it to feel after his handy work. There where wounds on there but they where fresh, and not the one he delivered some time ago when they first met. Freddy's head slowly turned towards the tunnel that led to the void, and then towards his victim's chest, and then back to the tunnel again. It was definitely a stupid idea, but it wasn't like Freddy had anything to lose at that point. He promptly crawls back through the entryway with his victim held close. If the chest wound had healed over there, would all these new ones be restored as well? The peculiarity of the band-aided man was starting to really catch Freddy's attention. He was definitely not like any of the teens he was used to encounter, not even like those people who discovered special dream abilities they tried to use against him.

Freddy emerges with the limp body back into the dark empty space. He doesn't pay his loss of powers much attention this time as his focus was fixated on the still body in his arms, waiting for some sign of recovery. Sure enough, after a while the scratch marks slowly started to mend, the limbs corrected themselves with some sharp cracks, and the previously dead man suddenly jerks his head up drunkenly, taking a breath as if he narrowly managed to escape drowning. His earlier displayed discontent towards Freddy had either subsided or been forgotten as he faced the demon with a more confused expression then anything, along with some tired groans. Freddy's lips offers a fairly welcoming smile in response as he sets him down, but his clawed hand still holds onto the band-aided man's arm for support.

"Well well, it seems I managed to wake the mummy!" Freddy laughs, but the other remains unfocused, his head sluggishly turning in random directions as if his head is too heavy to keep upright. Freddy puts his hands on the other's cheeks, stabilizing the head and allowing them to make direct eye to eye contact for the first time.

"Now, we have only just started getting to know each other, but I have gotten quite curious about the abilities you have displayed before me," Freddy begins as he gently brushing the other man's lips with his bare hand's thumb, mostly to keep his attention focused. "Healing form my attacks and even resurrecting yourself, are those dream powers of yours?"

The other man didn't really answer but Freddy could hear quiet coarse murmurs coming out of his mouth, suggesting a will to communicate. Freddy smirks, content that he seemed amenable enough to cooperate with him. He would have to continue with the waiting game still, due to him being unable to read the other's thoughts here, but if he was cooperative enough it may not be a huge issue in the long run.

"We don't have to be too rash about this," Freddy reassures him. "As long you reject that damned Hypnocil, everything will go smoothly," he finishes and lets go of the other's head and pets his left shoulder encouragingly, hoping a more friendly approach would win him over.

The other's eyes seemed more concentrated now, but his body was wavering still. His expression conveyed a puzzled look, causing Freddy to wonder if the band-aided man actually had understood him or not. He felt his frustration build up, but would have to keep it low for now. He felt more information was needed in order to decide his next move.

"I'm guessing your unable to speak?"

The other cocks his head and lets his fingers lightly scrape at the bandages. He opens his mouth and lets out a quiet whisper, as if he tried to speak but his throat prohibited him from doing so. To compensate for his lack of vocal communication he shook his head as rapidly as his balance would allow, but afterwards he put his arms out in front of him in a shrugging motion and squinted his only visible eye, which made his already confused look even more emphasized.

Freddy wasn't sure what parts of that response corresponded with what. Him shaking his head could mean he couldn't talk, but that would also mean that the shrug implied that he didn't know what Hypnocil was - Something Freddy found hard to absorb.

"You _do_ live in Springwood, right?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for checking out my first fanfic! Hope you got some enjoyment out of it.
> 
> If not, I can at least imagine that you can appreciate the idea.
> 
> If you see some weird grammar or spelling stuff, feel free to leave a comment about it. I don't have someone who can help me with things like that unfortunately, so I guess I have to turn to you.


	2. Playing Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freddy and his new "neighbor" play some games together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I'm portraying these guys alright. I placed them in a rather special situation so its a bit tricky to accurately guess how they would behave. 
> 
> Oh well, hope you enjoy regardless.

That last meeting had only left Freddy with more questions then answers, but with each subsequent meeting he was slowly starting to familiarize himself with his new "friend". He wasn't the most talkative type given his condition, which had its fair share of benefits and problems. His quiet nature made him fairly tolerable as he didn't try to stop his fondness for murder or anything like that. However he wasn't always responsive to the hundreds of questions Freddy sometimes bombarded him with, something the demon found rather irksome. He had given him some answers, like confirming that he was definitely in a hospital and that he didn't know what his name was, but that was undeniably not enough for Freddy – it just made him wonder what kind of situation caused him to end up in a hospital to begin with. Freddy had tried to investigate the other's skin condition. It made Freddy think of burns, but they didn't really resemble his own marks so he was still uncertain. He could've been flayed or something as far as he knew. The other also seemed to have broken one of his legs due to his limping, and when Freddy touched it he often started to shudder and tired to jerk the leg away. If only he could remove the bandages. Oh well, Freddy was sure an opportunity like that would come around soon enough. 

\--- 

"So, what do you like doing?" It was probably their fifth meeting now, and Freddy had taken to mainly ask pretty basic questions to the band-aided man as he seemed to be at bit more acceptive of those. The other turns his head to the side and scratches his chin lightly. In the meantime, Freddy took to observing the surrounding area. It was still dark and empty as ever, but that strange feeling of pressure he previously felt had slowly withered away, and he had no idea why. His ego was trying to subdue the increasing suspicion that the other had way more power in this part of the dreamworld then what he would find acceptable, but ignoring it was getting harder with all the small hints. 

The other's head finally perks up with a rather playful look. He approaches Freddy and gently taps his shoulder and then tries to run away. Freddy just stared at the man for a moment. It was honestly the most pathetic attempt at a run he had ever seen. Due to his limp he was barely able to muster up any extra movement speed, so instead of running it just looked like he was trying to hop on one leg. Barely. His way of running probably would've caused Freddy to laugh under normal circumstances, but his head was too busy working out the situation. The even weirder thing was that people who had disabilities while awake where usually able to function normally here in the dreamworld - Freddy distinctively remembered that wheelchair kid from back in the day, as he was able to run around the dreamworld in his wizard costume just fine. What was this guy's excuse?

No matter. Freddy just went along with it and went after the fleeing man. He couldn't use his full running speed because if he did the man being chased would end up overrun, so he went with a casual jog. It wasn't hard catching up as the other man had only managed to get a few meters away from his starting location. As Freddy was getting closer he could hear the other man's rough inhaling and exhaling for air, mixed in with some quiet giggles. He might've not be in the most ideal condition for this but he seemed to have fun at least, and even himself managed to get some entertainment out of it all. Freddy was more used chasing people who were fearing for their lives but now he was going after someone who wanted to be chased for fun. It was certainly a change of pace and Freddy didn't mind some variety, especially if he had to choose between this or sulking back in the boiler room. By the time he reached his target, Freddy wrapped his arms around him and picked him up. Due to the other man's shorter height his legs dangled in the air as he was being elevated. 

"Gotcha!" Freddy exclaims with a rather chipper tone. He blew a little gust of wind with his mouth at his captive's neck just to mess with him, causing the man to shiver slightly, but he didn't seem to mind it as he continued to giggle. Freddy turns him around so they were now face to face. "Now that I have caught you, what game do you want to play next?" Freddy asked while making a toothy grin. The other man responded with an odd look, tilting his head slightly, but he brings himself back quickly. Freddy quietly cursed his current inability to read dreamers minds in response as he finally released his grip and allowed the other man to stand on his own. 

He looked at Freddy for a short while before allowing his hands to hide his face, periodically peeking between his fingers. 

"I'm guessing you want to play hide and seek, hmm?" Freddy utters. He had no idea how a game like that would work out here, this place was just a giant gloomy wasteland of nothing thanks to Freddy being unable to modify it. 

The other man nods slowly before pointing towards himself and then finally at Freddy. Did he want to look after him? The demon thought of the other man's previously shown movement capabilities and shook his head. If this guy were to do the looking, Freddy wondered how long that would take given the circumstances. He might not find a decent hiding spot here, but he could still run far away from the starting point and then "hide" within the darkness. That might just bore him in the end. At least if the other man hid it would probably not take as long, however Freddy was suspicious of him having a hidden trick up his sleeve.

"Hmm, I think its best if you hide" Freddy rubs his chin coolly with his gloved hand while pointing towards the other man's broken leg with his flesh one. "Just thinking about your limp, you know?" 

The man's lips formed a small 'o' and looked down at his legs. But his shy demeanor suddenly changed as he taunted the burned man with a surprisingly sly grin. Freddy grumbles at his now confirmed guesswork. Of course he had a little secret to show off.

"Well then, I suppose you have plan? Let's put that to the test," Freddy responds, suppressing any outer signs of surprise or annoyance. He didn't deserve to get a reaction out of him like that. The other man nodded excitedly and covered his face with his hands, encouraging Freddy to start the countdown, a request Freddy followed. 

"One, two..." he began, covering his face with his arms so he wouldn't peek. Counting up to ten should be enough he thought. As the countdown was reaching its completion, Freddy noticed that it was all quiet around him. Was the other man actually capable of getting around without slowly limping about? Freddy wasn't too sure if he liked all of these surprises or not.

"Nine, ten, ready or not here I come!" Freddy practically shouts for the other man to hear. Just as he suspected he was alone in this empty space, making Freddy wonder which direction he should go for first, but he soon set his eyes upon some familiar foot prints on the ground. They were leading towards the left of where he was standing, a direction that didn't look much different then the others, but Freddy went for it regardless due to the absence of other potential trails to follow. The steps where in a straight line so they were easy enough for Freddy to pursue. Until the trail just abruptly ended. "What the hell!" Freddy hotly shouts in disbelief as he holds his arms out in front of himself where the foot prints had stopped. Where did he go? Freddy turns his head to look in all directions but no other steps were seen. He stomps his way to the front of the last foot prints. 

"I swear if you turned invisible I'll-" Freddy was unexpectedly interrupted as the part of the floor he was going towards hadn't been as solid as he had thought, causing him to drop down without resistance. During the fall he refused to scream but when he finally hit the hard ground he couldn't help but letting out a pained groan. Lifting his head he observed this new area he had fallen into. He was definitely inside some sort of old building, but it was as empty as his previous location, just not as dark. It had somewhat of a grayish tone to it instead of complete darkness. Freddy did spot a peculiar hole in the wall to the left of him, which gave the encouragement for Freddy to finally stand up to inspect it. As he approached the hole he started to hear very quiet shuffling, indicating that he had found his hiding familiar. Freddy makes a wily chuckle and starts to lets his claws tap the cold wall in order to announce himself before entering the hole. On the other side Freddy found the other man, who waved his hand at him when he came in. This room was a bit smaller but what caught Freddy's attention was the dust on the floor. It covered the majority of the room, save for some select spots that strangely had none at all, as if something had been there previously and blocked the dust from gathering. The other man was sitting on top of such a spot that was very distinctly in a rectangular shape.

As Freddy fully got into the room, the other man tried to get up from his spot, but his broken leg just caused him waddle weakly. Freddy was too distracted to really acknowledge the man's enthusiasm. 

"Could you tell me what's up with the dustless spots on the floor? It looks like there used to be furniture here or something," Freddy questioned, but all he got was an uncertain shrug. Seeing an opportunity to finally explore this part of the dreamworld to its very core, Freddy walked over and helped the other man up on his feet.

"Would you mind helping me find them? Doing some home improvements around here?" 


	3. Freddy Gets To Play Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freddy changes his neighbor's bandages. He isn't so great at it though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is going to describe some pretty severe wounds, which can come off as pretty gory. Not the MOST gory I think, but still.
> 
> Just saying that so you know.

He was completely covered in red when Freddy met him after sometime apart. Freddy had stayed in the boilers for awhile to be on the lookout for other people who may have missed their daily Hypnocil intake. Unfortunately for him, the pipe maze remained as empty as the vacuum of space. The band-aided man looked like he had been drenched in blood as he reflected no other color then red, which was especially noticeable as he sat on the pale white ground, letting his thin fingers create small marks on the powdery floor: It made Freddy think of fingerprinting. As he sat on the ground red droplets slowly fell and burst when it hit the flooring, creating a small crimson puddle around the man. He avoided leaning too much on his broken leg, Freddy assumed it was for minimizing pressure.

"Are the hospital staff in Springwood really that incompetent?" Freddy finally broke the silence gesturing towards the unclean bandages. Surely the nurses or even a doctor would've noticed if one of their patient's bandages needed to be changed. Granted, Freddy didn't actually know if the guy was actually in Springwood's hospital currently or not, but where else would he be? As much as Freddy loved his powers, the fact that his influence was pretty much restricted to just his home town by default was infuriating to no end. And even if the guy was outside the town, why him specifically? Was he some lost Elm Street kid that somehow managed to slip away without his knowledge? Freddy barely wanted to acknowledge that possibility since that made him look incapable of keeping track of all of his children.

Freddy didn't really get a worthwhile answer as all he got was a light shrug, making the demon groan over his uncooperative nature. Did he have to be so annoying now? Freddy wasn't in the mood for games and just wanted something to do, and for that to happen he had to initiate it himself.

"Well if the nurses aren't gonna change them, I guess it's all up to me," he explains as he suddenly picks up the bloody man, hangs him over his shoulder and starts to walk in a random direction. The man didn't struggle and move this time which Freddy took as a sign of approval. Though Freddy had no idea where he was going, he still had no power to manipulate the area so it carried on being a dark void of nothing. No matter how much Freddy tried to materialize anything like new bandages or even some kind of seat, the effort ended in failure. He might be able to quickly run back to the boilers, get what he needed there and come back, but Freddy didn't really feel any motivation to backtrack. Bringing things from his area to here might be something worthwhile to experiment with at some later date. He did however know someone who was able to change it at will, much to his disgust. 

"Would you mind showing off you dream powers for me, I can't get you all cleaned up if I don't have the necessary stuff, you see?" Freddy hums softly to his shoulder passenger, trying to catch his attention. He stirs a bit and tries to lift his head, but it quickly falls back towards Freddy's back again, like his head was to heavy. A few tired grunts later and with Freddy stopping dead in his tracks, the man finally seemed capable to look up and scan the place. His neck was still about as stiff as a noodle it seemed as his head still swayed a bit uncontrollably while it moved around, something Freddy found quite amusing to watch. 

Soon Freddy saw the darkness around them slowly dissolve and what appeared to be a small hospital room came into view. This room was actually furnished compared to the strangely empty "secret place" the other man had showed him earlier, though it sure wasn't in a better state. It looked abandoned as there mold and possible corrosion all over the room's walls, but the bed was somehow in an even worse condition. Freddy touched the cloth and it felt moth-bitten and dirty, but it sure reeked of the medicine the band-aided man was covered in, but at an even higher potency. It almost made Freddy retreat back but he chose to endure the stench. That wasn't the only weird thing about the bed either. Not only was it floating in mid-air and the IV bags hanging next to the bed contained mysterious liquids in unpleasant colors, the edges of the bed also had thin broken metal poles of varying lengths sticking up of it. It made Freddy think of an unfinished cage a bit. He let out a feint laugh at the sight. 

"I suppose you aren't too happy about your hospital stay" Freddy queried the man without expecting an answer, as he proceeded to put him down on the bed and started to look inside the cabinets for some useful items. "If I was forgotten like you seem to be back there, I would definitely be pretty pissed about it too". The thought of being forgotten was probably one of the worst ways to end, and because of that it lingered within Freddy's thoughts as he grabbed some new rolls of bandages form a drawer. Being forgotten was a very strong possibility now with Springwood's citizens all hooked up on Hypnocil, and he had no idea how to stop it.

Soon enough he got everything he thought was necessary for the procedure and returned to his patient who gave him a somewhat concerned look.

"No need to worry," Freddy assured him as he put the things he had gathered on a small desk close to the bed. "All this boredom seems to have brought out my more merciful side". Freddy brings forth a roll of cloth strips and grips the bloodied bandages on his patients left arm.

"Don't get used to it," Freddy said, almost venomously, as he starts removing the red strips without really paying attention to the fact that the blood wasn't so wet it first appeared to be. When Freddy removed the red strips, some of the damaged skin came off along with it, practically glued to the cloth. Blood just rushed out of the new fleshy gaps like a waterfall and spattered anywhere it could reach.

For Freddy time stood still for just a moment. A wound like that would've caused anyone to scream their throat out, but the lack of a shriek from the sufferer messed up the demon's perception of time, due to him expecting one. In fact, the man didn't even look at his ruined arm as his head was turned away from it. Freddy did eventually snap out of it though, as he knew that if he refused to halt the flow, his patient would eventually die in real life by blood loss. 

"I did say I would help you, but my hands are more used to harming." Freddy confessed to his patient. He could't let the man die now, but Freddy couldn't help trying to lighten the mood with some sheepish banter. Uncertain on what to do next he just tied the dirty bandages back on again which did lower the amount of blood flowing out, though it was definitely not the best option. How would he be able to change them now?

The patient suddenly turned his head back towards Freddy and his mutilated arm and let out rough wheeze, which Freddy guessed was him trying to scream. All of the initial wounds must've really messed up his reaction time, Freddy concluded. Or it was just the painkillers again. However with the man now being aware of the blood problem, the wounds began to heal and soon the blood flow stopped. Fred let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Phew, if you didn't fix that you probably would've died!" Freddy remarked, but all that gave him was a terrified look from his patient. Freddy savored the reaction, it was so long he had seen a scared face.

Freddy was now able to successfully remove all of the bandages on his patient's left arm, allowing him to fully examine it. But before that he filled a tub with water and placed the man's right arm inside - hopefully this would mitigate the risk of skin getting torn off when it was that arms turn for assessment. He returned to the left arm and sure enough, the skin was covered in dreary burns and other open wounds. Freddy found it rather comical that the one person he would meet after weeks of alone time was also burned like himself. The burns themselves were however rather different from his own. His own skin had small wounds covering his whole body but they were rather shallow and didn't drip body fluids. While the other man had fewer wounds, making the majority of his skin fairly dry but smooth to the touch, but the wounds he had were much more severe and periodically leaked blood and pus. Freddy also noticed that the man's fingers were really thin at the tips, as if the fire had burned away some of the flesh there - it made them almost as pointy as the bottom of a waffle cone.

Freddy went straight to work and started to clean the wounds with some saturated washcloths. He didn't really know how long one was supposed to rub a wound with the cloth, or even if he was supposed to do it at all, but he chose about a minute. It could't hurt to wash the wounds for a bit, right? After Freddy was done with the washing he picked up some new bandages and carefully wraps up the arm pretty neatly. The process to change the band-aids on the right arms also went very smoothly thanks to the earlier soaking, making the demon feel rather proud of himself.

"See? I said you didn't have to worry. You can trust Doctor Freddy!" the demon gushed towards his patient, still happy about his accomplishment. The expression his patient gave was a bit hard to read because of the obscuring bandages, but Freddy could make out either doubtfulness or confusion based on his flat lips and his moderately open eyes. The inability to read his thoughts still plagued the demon, much to his chagrin. 

"Oh I'm going for your head next, just so I can read you better". Freddy reached out to the cloth covering the other man's head, but a pair of hands grabbed his wrist stopped him. He looked down and saw his patient's distressed face and him shaking his head, strongly discouraging him form removing the bandages. 

"Suit yourself then, don't come back to me after those wounds get infected later or something," Freddy jeered and went for his legs instead. "Like your leg definitely is". His legs were comprised of more layers of band-aids then the arms, and the broken leg also had a cast around it. But even without that, Freddy felt this wasn't going to be all that fun. Now that Freddy could focus on it, the smell of rot was very obviously coming from the broken leg. He went for that one first just to get it over with. Although, he was definitely not abandoning the plan to unbind the head. He just needed to wait for the right time, probably by just dragging him to the boilers really quick.

After taking off the old bandages and cutting up the cast, the broken leg was finally freed, and Freddy finally got to see the grim state it was in. Unlike the arms that just had some deep open wounds, the leg was pretty much dead. A giant fissure went down the limb, exposing a much of the limbs insides and bit of the cracked tibia bone. Much of the skin around that area had turned black, was covered in cracks, and looked all charred up - as if it had transformed into coal. He was also sure he could spot a greenish hue within the wound. Freddy had a strong urge to poke at the exposed bone, but the patient's nervous look gave Freddy a mischievous idea. He quickly flicked the bone with his index finger, causing the target to wince and look down with an annoyed look. Freddy just responded with a chuckle and chose to pinch a piece of the coal-like skin. As soon as Freddy's fingers barely touched the loose piece of petrified skin, it fell off and hit the floor, breaking into even smaller bits. Freddy stared at the small black fragments for a few seconds before looking up at his patient.

"The hospital staff really are worthless, surely a leg like this would've been amputated by now," Freddy speculated as he began to truly asses the leg. He had no idea how this wound could be salvageable. Freddy thought he maybe could cut some of the dead skin off with his claws, and when he remembered the other man's healing factor, it made him consider the option. While Freddy started to saw off all the black dead flesh with is index claw, he continued on with his babbling while the patient quietly observed, letting out shaky breaths every once in awhile. "Or has technology really advanced that quickly? I mean what time is it now, 2003 I believe? Time sure flies by fast..."

The soft inhaling above him suddenly stopped, making Freddy turn his head upwards to see what happened. His patient had ceased all movement and just sat there on the bed like he was a statue. Freddy raised a brow at him, but quickly continued on with the cutting. With all the rotten flesh gone Freddy hastily wrapped a wet towel around the leg to absorb the leaking blood. He really wanted to just let the blood flow out like a fountain, but the man had probably lost enough blood to reach critical levels of Hemorrhage already so he could not enjoy that view. He did look kind of pale after all now when Freddy looked at the almost alabaster white skin. It definitely made the dark bruises stick out like a sore thumb.

When the new wounds had been exhausted of blood, Freddy quickly dried the limb and applied the new bandages around it. He unfortunately didn't have the materials necessary to build a new cast, but he would probably be fine without it... 

Satisfied with his work he turned his attention towards the last limb of the day, and luckily it wasn't nearly as mangled as the previous one, as it mainly had wounds similar to the arms. This made the bandages swapping process much simpler for Freddy which he liked. Some easy rushes of euphoria was always welcome in his book.

"Well then, it seems I have done this job perfectly, med-school is really just a scam!" Freddy celebrated by striking a prideful pose, observing the newly placed bandages now covering the other man's body -with the exception of his head of course. His patient however didn't express the same amount of happiness, only staring at his "doctor" in a rather dazed manner. Freddy's face fell slightly. He had been acting perplexed this entire time. What was so wrong with getting his bandages changed? 

"I really wished I could read your mind, like I normally can," Freddy sighs as he picks up the man and began their way back, following his footsteps as per usual. His passenger just wrinkled his nose at that comment, as much the cloth strips around his head would allow anyway. The way back wasn't anything special, so when Freddy finally reached the entryway leading to the boilers he put the man down winked towards him as a good bye.

"See ya next time, Grumpy bear!"

With Freddy gone, the man stood there staring into the tunnel for moment, possibly trying to collect himself before shakily looking down at the white ground. As if it responded to a command, it slowly melted into a bubbling red pool that the recently cleaned man limped towards and sunk into, making him drenched in crimson once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have seen it, did you notice that Remake kind of limps in some of the earlier scenes? Maybe he tripped over something when he ran out off the power plant as the parents sat him on fire.
> 
> Also, if you're getting annoyed over Remake constantly being referred to as "the other man" and such, do not worry.  
> Freddy will learn about his identity soon enough.


	4. Familiar Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freddy Finally learns who the band-aided man really is form some familiar faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AKA: Probably how to not write exposition.

"Hellooo... Are you here?"

Freddy had been doing this for awhile now, trying to find the void's primary occupant that had mysteriously made himself undetectable. No scent of painkillers, Freddy's instincts told him the man was probably awake, maybe being tended to by the hospital staff that had finally remembered he was there. Still, that meant Freddy was all alone once again. He sighs as his only form of entertainment was gone for the day. Or night – Freddy wasn't able to really keep track of time without the help of his victims memories.

The scarred demon started to aimlessly wander around again, bored out of his mind. He just had to be awake now when he needed some stimuli, didn't he?

No matter, all he could do now was to focus on the ever so stubborn dreamscape as it still refused to obey any of his commands. The absence did give Freddy full opportunity to finally explore the area to its limits, but the question was 'how' to . Did it even have anything interesting to find by default now that its main controller was't present? The only way to find out was to get moving. He took a sharp turn and went south, intending on going in one direction until something happens.

As he trekked through the empty space his mind started to wonder. He might not be able to influence this area completely, but maybe he could preform some smaller feats. His walking speed decreases somewhat and he starts to focus his attention on his ungloved hand. Soon a small orb of light developed above his hand. It wasn't able to show much, it was just a glowing orb not a flashlight after all, but Freddy was pleased with the result. It assured him that some form of control was possible. Now all he had to do was to figure out what to do with this knowledge.

  
_Something small, something small..._

  
The phrase echoed inside his head like a mantra as he slowly traversed the area. What small thing here could he try to manipulate? As Freddy's mind swirled around looking for possibilities, an idea popped up while he was thinking of recognizable places.

The secret hiding spot. The two empty rooms the man had hid in sometime ago while they played hide and seek – was it still accessible? Thinking back, Freddy didn't see it dematerialize when they left it, compared to the hospital room that had definitely been summoned by the band-aided man and had later melted away on their way back towards the tunnel. Freddy closed his eyes and concentrated on the empty spot, thinking of every concrete surface he remembered and the weird dustless spots on the floor. He tried to imagine himself there again. That was how it worked back at the boilers anyway.

As he continued to walk and focus, the sounds of his feet hitting the ground suddenly changed from its previous soft cushiony-like sound, which Freddy thought was an indication that he was successful, but these new footsteps did not sound like concrete...

Freddy opened his eyes and was greeted with a gray dreary setting. Gloomy clouds covered the sky, but the area was much brighter then the previous black void, causing Freddy to rub his unaccustomed eyes for a few seconds. There appeared to be buildings around him, but they lacked any kind of opening so they just looked like giant rectangular boxes sticking out off the ground. A cold gust of wind whipped against his body, a sensation he hasn't felt in a long time. He started to shiver lightly and his hands rubbed against each other to produce some warmth. _Really could use a jacket by now..._

There was one building in the distance that actually seemed to have an entryway, he could see some sort of light coming out of what appeared to be a window. It was either the cold or shelter and Freddy did not need to hesitate with a choice like that. Rushing over to the structure, he noticed that it resembled a power plant. Not his own obviously, the metal seemed much more modern. He ventured inside and just like outside it was just as gray, much unlike his own red-tinted pipe maze. The inside was rather empty still, but Freddy felt pretty satisfied with the find as it was a huge improvement over the little light ball he made not too long ago. It did make him wonder though, why was this place here? Freddy supposed it had some relevance to his bandage-covered companion as this power plant was in no way his own.

_Maybe he worked here before?_ A very... peculiar detail if proven true.

Suddenly the area started to melt, similar to how rain drips down glass, and it transitioned into an even more familiar place - a pipe filled boiler room encased in red lighting. Freddy almost thought that he was back in his own boiler again, but it was much warmer compared to his cold and empty one. He even saw large spouts of fire burst out from the machinery on occasion, a rarity back at home nowadays. He wondered if his thoughts about his boiler caused the one over here to blend together with his. He looked around the metal pipes, carefully avoiding steam that some pipes erupted, keeping his senses on high alert. Just for gags, Freddy traversed the boiler as if it shared the same layout as his own, an area he knew inside out - it usually just led him to dead ends though.

Rumbling from a furnace soon caught Freddy's attention. Its doors were open, almost inviting him to step inside as it appeared to be an entrance to a passageway. Although, Freddy had no interest in going into the most obvious trap he had ever seen.

"Yeah no, I'm not that stupid," Freddy laughed, mostly at himself. He imagined that this whole scenario was some kind of weird prank his band-aided friend had conducted for him, and that he was looking down him to see if the trap would work. That thought may or may not have been true but Freddy found the idea funny.

"Just get in here you idiot!" 

Freddy was taken aback when he heard the unknown voice that came through the furnace. The hell was that? Was it the other guy? Freddy hadn't heard him speak a real sentence before, only violent coughing fits and exhausted grunts gave any indication as to how his voice could possibly sound like. And even then, he doubted that those where very accurate indications at that. He was also unable to really picture the man speaking in such an angry manner given his previously shown shy demeanor. After a few seconds of consideration and getting his head on track, he crawled into the fireplace and found himself inside a red fleshy room. The walls and flooring appeared and felt like raw meat. Freddy could even see it mildly shudder as he passed by it, as if it had something small crawling underneath the meaty layer. He felt a small urge emerge in his stomach to bite into the wall, just to see what would happen if he did, but his attention was quickly caught by sounds of something fluttering in the air. He turned his head and was immediately greeted by three floating snake-like creatures, a look he recognized.

The three creatures still looked like bony snakes, but these bones were black in color, which made their glowing eyes all the more noticeable. Their bodies where at least a few meters long if he calculated correctly, compared to the almost worm-looking demons he knew. The trio also displayed more individual differences, especially in the facial area. The middle one had a rather fish-like face and had sharp bony spikes protrude out along its thin spine. Freddy noticed that the face itself was frozen and didn't change - it was face he had seen many times on his victims when they fell under his claws. The left one had a disproportionately large mouth for a head, with only tiny beads for eyes. The inside of its mouth resembled a dark never-ending abyss due to nothing being present there. It also appeared to have a large balloon for a stomach that had an orange glow to it. Similar to its mouth, the stomach looked out of place on its body which was much slimmer then the other two. Lastly, the right one seemed to have a way to tiny mouth for its giant thick tongue that freely dangled outside its jaws. This particular demon's long body was essentially vibrating for some reason, and the tongue's tip was strangely swollen.

"Well well, it was about time we got to make ourselves acquainted," the middle one's raspy voice boomed. Its body lowered and the head angled itself so it looked upward towards Freddy's face. This new angle made its paralyzed face look strangely happy, maybe even playful.

"What took you so long, I'm practically starving over here!"

"Oh don't be too harsh on him, he couldn't have known!"

While Freddy looked on as the demons started to bickered with each other, he silently felt grateful over his own demon's more hands-off approach. He honestly forgot half the time that they even existed due to their elusive appearances. The thought of them constantly nagging at him every single time something went south made the scarred man almost cringe in disdain. An important question still remained however.

"Who the hell are you three?" Freddy demanded rather loudly in order to catch the bony snakes' attention."Any relation to some smaller and whiter demons perhaps?"

The middle demon turned its head towards Freddy in a similar tilt as before, recreating the merry optical illusion.

"In one way we are, but not really." The demon answered back ambiguously

"Why should we even answer you?" The left demon's comically giant mouth flapped as it spoke. The shape of its head remained Freddy of a fluttering kite in a way, but his train of thoughts where soon interrupted by unrestrained rage.

"You're just a failure after all."

Freddy didn't even hesitate and quickly drew out his clawed hand, ready to kill the demon who dared to insult him - but his sudden blood lust stayed unsatisfied as the metal only phased through their target. The failing attack caused Freddy to start shouting every insult he could possibly think off at the left demon, but his words drowned out by a mocking laughter form the would-be victim's gaping mouth, and a cocked head from the middle demon. The last demon however, stopped its odd shaking and tried to ease the tension.

"Please don't take him too seriously Mister Krueger, he's always like that, its okay..." it whimpers rather cautiously. Its soothing voice caused Freddy's anger to cease and turned his attention towards its speaker – like he was being compelled. He caught on to it pretty quickly however and started to rapidly shake his head to rid of the outside force.

"Get out of my head!"

The demon's oversized tongue flicked lightly at the remark, resulting in thick strings of saliva to trickle down its veiny tongue. "Oh pardon me, it's a natural thing". It floated forward to meet Freddy a bit more closely, trying to give Freddy friendly smile. Alas, its tongue made the attempt unsuccessful and it only looked like its jaw broke given its oblique angle. "Though, I really do want to thank you for looking after of our own little Freddy, he has been so somber for far too long since his death."

_Our own little Fr-What?_

"Oh don't act so surprised now, you always knew he was special!"

"Not that kind of special!" Freddy borderline shouts back, tensed up by the revelation. Freddy's thoughts went back on all the oddities he had witnessed from his band-aided companion. Manipulating the dreamworld had been a pretty big red flag for Freddy already in general, but with that, the boiler, plus the burned appearance? There was no way in hell Freddy would've guessed that that the other person he have been hanging out with was... himself?

"Well not exactly 'yourself'," the middle demon corrected. "Just like how we are not exactly like the demons you know."

"You're overestimating his intelligence".

"Oh don't be too harsh on him, I doubt he had a reason to suspect parallel universes!"

The demons stopped their chit-chatting quickly however to focus on their even more confused-looking visitor, who seemed to currently be experiencing a short-circuit based on his rigid body. He wondered how much information he had about this 'other' Freddy was actually false. He wasn't alive in a hospital bed like had previously thought. Where was he now? If he was him then he should be in control of the dreamworld by now. That seemed to be the case, but why did he still limp around or act like he's still in pain? Did his powers work differently from his? Why didn't he remember anything? Granted, now that Freddy thought about it, what did _he_ do the first ten years after he got lynched? Did he even exist during that time? He could only trace it back to when he first started attacking the Elm Street children in their teens in... what year was that again, late seventies?

"I suppose bombarding him with all this new information broke him a bit."

"Why are you so surprised by that, he can't even figure out why he's powerless here."

Just as the big-mouthed demon finished its sentence Freddy snapped out of his thoughts and started to violently swipe at the demon again for mocking him, but like last time it gave no worthwhile result. The middle demon makes an annoyed grunt and coils around Freddy's arms with its long body, keeping him in place.

"Listen here, we think its time for our Fred to stop sulking and remember his past," it said sternly to its squirming captive before taking on a more calm demeanor. "Why won't you try and assist him? It will definitely help you get to know him better".

Freddy wasn't keen on taking orders from others, but the reward was tempting. By helping this alternate version of himself regaining his memories, he would learn more about him and what made them different from one another. Did he actually work in this power plat when he was alive? How was his childhood? How many children did he manage kill, or did he even kill any at all? The behavior he had observed so far indicated a somewhat meeky and quiet nature, a stark contrast to his loud and brash self.

But of course, Freddy knew better then to take a person's outer personality as the real one. After all, he used to mask his own true self back in the day.

"Sure, whatever," Freddy muttered as he thought of a way how to throw in a monkey's paw at the demon's demand. This walk down memory lane should preferably benefit him above anyone else.

"Atta boy, we are pleased with your cooperation," the demon replied as it finally released Freddy's arms. "We could certainly have done it ourselves, but I think he isn't too happy with us since we told him to run away from here all those years ago." Freddy was about to question what that was all about before a slimy tongue wrapped around his right arm and started to escort him out of the room

"H-Hey, I'm not done with you three yet!" Freddy tried to free himself but the tongues grip was surprisingly strong.

"He didn't want to die," the demon's head drooped as it suddenly spoke. "Unlike you, he wanted to live, so we told him to run out of here. If he did, then he would survive the fiery assault.

The demon went silent for a moment before continuing. "He got to live for about seven additional years in a hospital bed before his body just couldn't take it anymore."

"You guys brought those trust issues to yourselves then," Freddy dryly commented, but the demon either ignored or didn't hear it. As they got out of the fleshy room, the demon led Freddy towards a room that housed another furnace. The floor was a catwalk made up of intertwined wires, but Freddy thought it was rather empty at first glance. Until he spotted the 'other' Freddy close to the fireplace. Freddy was about to call out for him and ask what he had he up to, seeing as he wasn't awake after all, but he stopped as he saw the man just lifelessly sit there on the grid, staring into the fire that was currently bursting out off the fireplace's opening. Small damaged toys dotted around him, and every once in awhile, he would shakily pick up one of them, look at it for a few seconds, and chunk it into the hungry fire that consumed it almost instantly.

"He really tried to be good in his earlier years. Sure he didn't know how to seek help, nor did he dare to ask anyone, but he really tried. That only allowed the frustration to grow however..." The demon rose to levitating above Freddy's head and looked down upon him, their faces dangerously close to one another. Its previously rather cheerful face turned into a wrathful scowl.

"Due to who he is, the only thing society wants from him is death, so death is what he will bring."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a bit iffy about the dream demons existing in the remake universe. I mean, that version is supposed to be more realistic and all that, which these guy don't really fit the bill on.
> 
> Nevertheless, I do think they might work if given a bit more characterization and more threatening designs, so I thought about sharing how I imagine they would be like here, since the original versions only really existed to explain Freddy's powers - which was kind of unnecessary in the end honestly. Instead of resembling tiny skeleton-worms, I took inspiration from deep-sea fish, because many of them already look like they originated from someones nightmares. Primarily Deep-sea Hatchet Fish, Gulper Eel, Viper fish and Black Dragonfish. The three now also represent different kinds of child abuse and kind of take the place of Mr. Underwood here, as a reference to child grooming.
> 
> Naturally all that makes this chapter kind of stick out like a sour thumb because I don't think they will show up again, but I wouldn't call this a very serious story so I think it will be alright.


	5. Restrictions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freddy comes to realize that his counterpart's dreamworld is a lot vaster then he thought. He doesn't like that at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this will be the last chapter I have the time to make before school starts again. That naturally means that I wont be able to update this or write any other story until school is finished again. 
> 
> I hope you have found it pleasant, or at the very least found my ideas interesting!  
> See ya.

Freddy had a lot to think about after the encounter with this world's dream demons. So, the bandage guy really was...himself. The word sounded sour coming out of his mouth. Freddy was a prideful man and the idea of not being truly unique just didn't sound right to him – especially when the second him barely acted like him personality-wise. The demon had thought of other things he could call his other self, since he would need a nickname for him sooner or later he supposed. He had alerted his counterpart about their shared identity, though he didn't seem to believe him as his response was a tilted head and a squinted eye. Oh well, those supposed memories should slam that fact into his head.

The boiler still remained and was as fiery as ever. Freddy thought over what he had been told - to make the other guy remember. It didn't sound all that difficult if it turned out they shared the same backstory - he just had to show off his version, observe the reactions and go from there. He gave the other Freddy a quick glance. He wasn't doing anything particular, neither one of them did really, just sat on the floor relaxing. His body was curled up but his broken leg was out-stretched and rested on a pillow laying close by. Had he been alive one could believe he was sleeping because of his closed eye, but he wasn't alive.

Freddy's eyes focused on the lying figure. Making him remember his memories would probably have to wait – there were some more important things for him to remember first.

"Did you know that the pain can go away if you want it to?" Freddy got up on his knees and smacked his hands together, producing a metallic clinging-sound that gave the resting man a rather rude awakening. The sound caused him to scramble his way up; his head darted around the area as he tried to find the sounds source of the sound, but Freddy grabbed his shoulders which calmed him down.

"Your leg doesn't work because you think it doesn't, but once you think of other things the pain will cease." His hands let go of the man's shoulders and Freddy finally got up on his legs and proceeded to do a little cheery twirl to emphasize his fine condition. "I'm not running around here like a headless chicken yelling that my burns hurt, I don't feel that pain anymore." The still kneeling Freddy looked at the display in front of him, holding his hands close to his chest while letting his fingers fiddle with each other. Suddenly he yelps and falls over on his side, lifting some pressure off his fractured limb.

"See, you can do it!" Freddy exclaimed with a hand gesture, quite pleased that they seemed to share a similar method of eliminating pain. "You forgot about the pain because your head was occupied with something else. Now you just have to do it again, think about anything else other then your mess of a leg." He continued on with his encouragement while the the other Freddy continued with his attempts at standing up, but alas, the limb refused to carry its owners body. Freddy rubbed his chin in a quick motion, wondering if he just wasn't capable at ignoring the pain correctly or if an extra step was necessary. Maybe he should've started with the memories after all; that would definitely give his head something to wrestle with instead on focusing on the pain.

But where should he start, a childhood memory or an adult one? There were many choices to choose from. Freddy looked down and caught a glance of his trusted glove, making Freddy know exactly what he should go for.

"This is one of my most treasured pieces of work, and I'm sure it has caught your attention at some point during our time together as well." He stretched out his gloved hand towards the other man, encouraging him to inspect it. If he truly was a Freddy, he had to have some kind of glove equivalent. Freddy hadn't seen another glove here so if it did exist, he wondered how it would look like. Would it be the same model or have some other modifications?

The other Freddy gave the glove a neutral look, but took the hand in his own and let his burned fingertips slowly rub against the metal, as if he was feeling its texture. Freddy didn't mind that, as long as he didn't do anything weird, like biting the glove or something, he could explore it to his non-beating heart's content. As the inspection went on Freddy's mind got impatient and started to wonder off on its own. He looked around the boiler as his gloved hand was tuned around to satisfy some curious eyes. Where was this guy's children? This dreamworld was about as inhabited as his own, as in barely a peep. Although, as it had been sometime the other Freddy had died he supposed his own Springwood's memory of him had faded away as well. But it didn't hurt to ask.

"Have you ever seen anyone around here that isn't me?" The other Freddy made a soft hum and lets go of the clawed glove, meeting Freddy with a pretty warm grin. His trinkets getting any sort of praise was a rarity, and finally getting some made Freddy's chest swell with pride. He had worked so hard on it, going through a few different models to get the glove to the perfect state it was now – it deserved some recognition. He did acknowledge that this appreciation conceptually was still coming from himself, but he would take what he could get. A swift nod from his counterpart caught Freddy's attention. His previous enthusiasm quickly changed to confusion over the answer.

"What, so you have seen other people here?"

A nod again.

"But then why haven't I seen anyone here? It's about as empty as my place!"

The other Freddy slowly gets up by using his companion's body as support, limps to a seemingly random wall and taps it with the back of his index finger. The onlooker was unsure on how to interpret that.

"Are they... behind that wall?" Freddy asked, rather dumbfounded at the moment. Now that he thought about it a second time, maybe he should have prioritized regaining the man's voice instead. It certainly would've helped with the communication. He was answered with the other Freddy holding out his hands shoulder-width in the air while curling his index and middle fingers twice.

"So what, are you blocking them out or something?" Answered with a third nod.

Freddy may as well have been thunderstruck by that response. He actually had access to people this entire time? As Freddy was feeling his body shiver over the two opposite situations. His counterpart covered his ears temporarily and made an uncomfortable wince.

"The hell is that for, the flesh is right there for you to cut, what's stopping you!" Freddy's growing anger was getting to him, bu he managed to collect his thoughts for a bit. The fact that his counterpart was in such a poor state, his probable incapability to even chase other people was a logical justification for keeping them out. It would be a huge embarrassment to try and hunt someone down while you could barely walk after all. Freddy turned his eyes back towards his companion who had grabbed hold of a close by pipe. His only visible eye was focused on his wrapped up feet as he carefully tried to lean onto his mangled leg, relieving it of pressure every other minute - his breaths were short and sharp every time the pain became to much to bear. His movements started to slow down after a while, but Freddy recognized that mischievous grin. He pressed his lips together.

"What are you up to now..." he grumbled, but he only got a weak chuckle for an answer. Freddy looked on as the man closed his eye and took a raspy but deep breath, later exhaling a little puff of gray smoke. The cloud quickly evaporated which made Freddy wrinkle his nose, wondering what the point of that was. However he was soon informed when the other Freddy gave him a friendlier smile and tapped the wall again. Did he remove the barrier?

Now, Freddy didn't really know what to expect out of this. He loved his powers and dying was probably one of the best things to ever happen to him, but their strict restrictions had always been a pain. Everyone outside of Springwood would never have to worry about his visits, and in his earlier years he had trouble reaching out to teens who had no connection to his death. He luckily managed to circumvent the "Elm Street children-clause" and was even able to cleanse the entire town of their children and teens over the span of ten years, but areas outside of Springwood was still a no-go for him. Based on his own experiences he quickly guessed that about ten to twenty or so kids would soon pop up

So, he didn't really know what would happen with the apparent barrier gone, but when harsh tremors began to shake up the dreamscape, he knew there was some kind of detail he was missing. Freddy was barely able to stand up-right nor was he able to grab onto anything - just as his balance was fluttering away, the boiler itself was also starting to melt – reverting back to the void again. Though, the burnt demon noticed that it wasn't pitch-black this time, instead sporting a reddish hue. Once the red void had fully materialized the quake abruptly ended, causing Freddy to fall over. He looked over at his counterpart who had avoided everything by lightly levitating off the ground, cheekily waving at him. Freddy was about to bark a bunch of insults at him, but he was stopped by a sharp tearing noise and a sudden flood of people flushing in from every side imaginable.

Freddy had never seen so many humans around him in the dreamworld before. Thankfully the stampede of confused people where unable to truly touch him as their feet only went through his body, though it was still awkward to basically see thousands of people stomping right through him. If only they didn't phase through his claws as well. The large diversity of the horde's ages, skin color and even some people's non-English spouting made Freddy wonder if all of these people _really_ lived in Springwood. The majority of words spoken by this tsunami of beings he was unable to understand, but he was certain that his ears picked up on someone yelling something in German, and maybe even some french somewhere in this echoing choir of stressed out individuals.

"Okay I get why you kept them out, now make them go away!" Freddy yelled as loud he could to try and out-weigh the other voices, but he wasn't sure if he succeeded with that because he barely heard what he just shouted. Luckily the one he wanted to hear his call caught it, and as quickly as they came, the area was emptied out, leaving Freddy on the ground all dizzy. His counterpart floated over towards him and shrugged while shaking his head as Freddy's eyes caught sight of him. The demon started to rubbed his hands against his skull.

"Argh, there's no way all those people actually live in Springwood!" Freddy spat out as a suspicious thought entered his head. If some of those people did not ably to one of his own major weaknesses, that must mean that this Freddy could...

The other Freddy shook his head, confirming the thought.

"You can go to whoever's dream you want, huh?" Freddy felt his blood starting to boil. Here he was, working his socks off trying to overcome one of his major weak spots, his restriction to Springwood. How many years had he tried to beat it even? He didn't really keep track. The worst part was that the loopholes he was aware off usually required another person's input – either to drag people to their dream or even having his own daughter letting him piggy-back with her to another town, another Elm Street. Once he could reach out to every dreamer he could finally make them fear his name and thus, never be forgotten. All of those attempts had ended in disaster.

And here this guy was, with the whole world's population presented in front of him on a silver platter, and he had done literally _nothing_. He probably didn't even have to worry about Hypnocil!

Freddy wasn't sure on how to continue from there. His anger wanted to drag the man back to his boilers and give him a good beating again: it had really soothed his senses. With his counterpart's increasing knowledge on how to use his dreamworld abilities, he doubted it would be as simple this time however. At the very least he didn't have the nerve to brag about his undeserved advantage, he just loomed over the lying demon currently throwing a tantrum, with what seemed to be a troubled expression. Freddy let his eyes meet the other's singular one, a contact that lingered for several seconds. He refused to call whatever he was feeling jealousy; it just didn't sit well with him. _But it just wasn't fair..._

"Um... Hello?"

The staring contest was interrupted by a unknown concerned voice echoing in the distance. Freddy twisted his head towards the sound's direction, his curiosity peaking. It was probably better to focus on something else for a moment before his head exploded.

After the flood, there was actually one little girl remaining. She appeared to be about twelve to fourteen and wore a puffy nightdress that resembled an ovesized jersey, indicating a sporty nature. She didn't seem to know where she was as her head looked around anxiously, most likely trying to most figure out what just happened, but Freddy had the feeling that she was looking for something. After the flood scare had gone away, she started to appear less scared and began to scan the area with a bit more confidence. Much to Freddy's chagrin, her calls never were more detailed then "anyone there?" which got old very fast. He would've given her a taste of his presence by now, either by scratching some pipes or by letting out a little taunt, but even yelling as high as his throat pipe could process, she was left clueless over the men's existence - probably a deliberate move made by this dreamworld's controller. The smaller Freddy's visible eye was honed in on her like a hawk, though he maintained a static posture. A mottled hand grabbed his other's wrist and started to fidget with it timidly, as if he had a sprained wrist. Freddy also thought that the man's eye looked much glassier then usual. As Freddy turned over to lay on his stomach and observe the scene, he soon started to hear a modest sound of clicking metal coming closer towards them. He turned his head and caught the glimpse of a tiny shape quickly scampering over the ground like a spider, aiming directly for his other self. Freddy was first unable to see what it was, but as it grabbed hold on its target's hospital gown, its form came to light.

The rusty glove crawled its way up and started to scissor its claws together, possibly in order to draw its owner's attention towards its arrival. The other Freddy didn't stop staring at the wandering girl, but he stopped clenching at his wrist and let the glove position itself in the palm of his hands. Was he going to kill her? Freddy followed whatever movement he made but none indicated he was going in for a kill; he just floated motionlessly with only visible his eye showing any sign of life. Freddy wasn't sure if he liked where this was going or not. On one hand, having a potential victim die not by his own hands right in front of him was probably be one of the worst teases he could think off. He had already suffered through such a situation not too long ago and he despised the idea of history repeating itself. On the other hand, he was somewhat interested in how his counterpart would haunt the kid. Did they use similar techniques or did they differ in that department as well? Freddy saw the girl give up on whatever she was trying to accomplish and lowering her head, as if she was disappointed over something. She pinched her cheek, and soon faded away - possibly awakening herself. 

"Would you mind introducing me to your personal piggy-heard?" Freddy snarked at his motionless self, though he got no response. He puffed up his cheeks and finally bounced up on his feet, tired of lying down on the ground, and hastily walked next to the floating man. 

"Hey, don't you dare to ignore me!" He fumed and started to poke at the man's cheeks with his ungloved hand, demanding his attention. The other Freddy appeared to shiver somewhat and clenched his hands around his own glove, which made some sharp metal to pierce into them, causing some blood to leak out of the new gashes. Freddy could also swear he saw tiny sparks ignite inside the cloth strips, still bloody as ever, threatening to set the head on fire. The demon decided to refrain from alerting that detail, feeling that the possibility of him getting his head set on fire would be a nice punishment for being so secretive. Additionally, the chance of finally seeing him without his bandages covering his head was appealing to him.

Unfortunately his counterpart seemed to notice the potential fire hazard and began to violently shake his head to extinguish his band-aids, much to Freddy's disappointment. His body slouched over a bit and he pouted with is lips to express the letdown. The other didn't seem to take it too well gave off an annoyed huff as he finished flailing his head around; the fiery sparks were gone and the only signs of them ever existing were thin trails of black smoke that rose from the red cloth, and some tiny patches of soot. The blood that had been seeping out of his wounded hands had formed a crimson puddle underneath his feet, and he soon let it engulf his body as he sunk through it, leaving Freddy alone in the void. Seeing no other option once no more bubbles came out of the puddle, he thought it was for the best to just go back home to his own boilers for now and be apart for a bit. Whoever that girl was, she must know a thing or two about his other self, Freddy thought as he returned home through the tunnel leading back to his own pipe maze. Maybe she even remembered him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it kind of ended at a cliffhanger when I wont be able to continue for a long while, but you know... School.
> 
> I got the idea about Remake Freddy lacking many of the restrictions Original had when it came to accessibility, when I noticed that the pre-school children Remake had already killed prior to the movie starting all lived outside of Springwood. As an example, Lisa Harper lived in Texas but Remake was able to reach her anyway - a maneuver Original could only dream of because he's stuck in Ohio. Granted one could definitely make the argument that Remake may still have the "Elm-Street kids only" clause, which could explain why he was able to get them outside of Springwood. However if Original was able to circumvent that hinder between part five and six (how he pulled that off without Alice & Jacob I'm not sure), I think Remake would be able to do so as well (if he does have it).
> 
> Besides, I don't think Remake needed a ability restriction anyway. I feel that his mentality would restrict his murder spree enough. I mean he wasn't a killer when he was alive like Original, so I personally think he doesn't care all that much about killing more then those who he thinks wronged him or are connected to his death. The only time he would kill a person he doesn't know is when that person has some sort of connection with Nancy or even Quentin. Also I don't think he even died in Springwood so him being bonded to it would just look weird. Gwen did say that Remake skipped town, didn't she? In Original's case, without the restrictions he would surely commit some kind of genocide sooner or later, but with them he would still have an obstacle to overcome. And since he did die in Springwood (I think his power plant was in the outskirts of town), I think it makes a bit more sense for Original to have restrictions with his accessibility.


End file.
